“I am trying..” Barry Bannan’s Sheffield Wednesday role discussed after near-rescue act
Xisco denied accusations that his Sheffield Wednesday side are to be over-reliant on captain Barry Bannan after the Owls skipper produced a moment of magic to almost take a point in their late defeat at Cardiff City.
Playing in a deeper role than otherwise under the new Wednesday boss, the Scotland international beat Ben Alnwick with a stunning 76th-minute effort from outside the area to break their duck.
Despite a second imporoved performance in as many matches, his side went on to suffer their fourth defeat from four Championship matches when Will Vaulks was adjudged to have handled an injury time cross and Ryan Wintle won Cardiff the points.
Much has been discussed on Bannan’s role in the new-look Wednesday side. Both he and Xisco have spoken about adapting to a more positionally-disciplined role further up the pitch in which patience is required to allow possession to come to him.
He operated deeper in South Wales and with 6.6 per cent of match possession had more of the ball than any of his teammates.
“I have already said Barry is a very, very important player who gives good things in attack and in defence,” the Spaniard told The Star. “He has the capacity for good intensity, he has good intentions with the ball.
“It is Barry that has a good connection between defence and attack.
“Right now, who gives the last passes? Right now, who gives the timing in the games? Right now, who gives the velocity for the transitions? It’s him.
“He is a very important player.”
Asked whether Bannan’s positional change hinted at a weighted reliance on the 33-year-old – who has been the Owls’ main man and central creative fulcrum now for several seasons – Xisco said no and suggested other players will grow into the ability to take on additional responsibilities with the ball as the squad continues to grow towards his tactical requirements.
“He’s one of the players who has the personality for the playing of the moment,” he said, reiterating a desire to get him into positions such as the one from which he scored on Saturday.
“If you have the personality to understand there are moments you play more safe and moments you play more aggressive. He knows which moments to take the risk in the situation to play forward.
“It’s normal you would give responsibility to him in this situation. It’s important, he is one of the players who has the capacity to do this.
“We have spoken about Barry playing a little higher, we put long balls which did not bring out the best part in him. The best part of him involves playing on the outside of the box.
“This is one of the players who has the capacity for this job. I am trying to get him closer to the area because when he is close to the area he has the capacity to have a good chance for us, 100 per cent.”
